A Pilot Study to Determine Reasons for Patient Withdrawal From a Pelvic Muscle Rehabilitation Program for Urinary Incontinence

Abstract

This project explored reasons why patients with urinary incontinence withdrew from a behavioral treatment program before completion of all sessions. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 of 25 patients who had not completed prescribed behavioral treatment at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill School of Medicine Continence Clinic. The women interviewed made positive or neutral comments about Kegel exercises and understood the relationship between urinary incontinence and pelvic muscle weakness. They perceived a relationship between age and urinary incontinence but did not think that incontinence was inevitable with aging. Treatment of urinary incontinence became less of a priority when work, physical impairments, or illness intervened and when there appeared to be some misunderstanding about the treatment. These findings suggest that clinicians need to better understand perceived barriers to adherence in order to discuss these barriers and to design a more individualized approach for each patient in a continence clinic.